Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox also owns a drag racing team
Maybe you knew this already if you're really into Eagles players' lives off the field, or if you're an auto racing wonk. I'm willing to bet, though, that this will be new to a lot of you.
He spoke recently with CompetitionPlus.com, a website that covers the drag racing community:
It is really my escape… I love the game of football. Honestly. That's what I live for, that's what I do. But besides the getaway part with football, I mean it gives you that peace of mind to actually to come a drag race and give you time off not to think about football.
I could be here and not think about football, and that's just the way the offseason goes for me. Normally it's hunting, fishing, and drag racing. Working out, of course, training and getting ready to go for the next season. But this getaway right now is what I look forward to every year.
[…]
It's got to be a natural fit for us big guys… They love to see stuff go fast. A lot of people ask me if I will ever drive. Maybe after football or something. But as of now, I think the main focus is right is to be around and be involved. A lot of people are shocked that I'm active in the pits. I'm not one of those guys that just shows up.
Cox has had a passion for cars for a long time. In October 2015, staff writer Tom Reifsnyder wrote a profile of Cox's life off the field, including how Cox fell in love with working on cars as a kid. His late brother Shaddrick used to take him to a speedway in Canton, Miss., and to an auto shop Shaddrick owned in their hometown of Yazoo City, Miss.
Cox was working on cars in a shop during the summer of 2016 when he learned that the Eagles had agreed to give him a six-year, $103 million contract, as noted here in Zach Berman's story on the deal.
Shaddrick passed down a Golddust Mustang to Fletcher, who put a new power plant in the car and turned it into a successful racing vehicle.
Earlier in 2015, Cox bought the racing team that he now owns. He wasn't the first NFL player to do so. Former Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears defensive tackle Alan Page ran a Super Stocker team in the 1970s.